Legends and Wardens
by MissKayna
Summary: Evelynn Tabris decided she wanted more out of life than simply jumping into marriage with some random elf, and decided to take her life into her own hands... Along with the lives of thousands . Alistair/Tabris , Rated M for violence, sexual themes, and other riff-raff.


This story is very loosely based on the game...So don't kill me for not following the story line completely.

I own nothing, enjoy =)

* * *

"So what if I didn't want to get married?"

That was how all of these arguments started. With me, Evelynn Tabris, goading my father into yet another heated discussion about my arranged marriage with a man I had only seen once in my life.

He sighed and rubbed his temples at the table. "You know, you really are so much like your mother." I raised my thin brows slightly, the anger in my amber eyes diffusing to curiosity. He glanced up and read the expression on my face and chuckled slightly, then stood from his place at the table to put his hands on my shoulders and give me a warm look that was, honestly, totally unexpected. "She hated the fact that she was going to marry me and wanted desperately to escape." He chuckled lightly again. "I even remember catching her trying to climb over the fence behind her house during dinner, just so she wouldn't have to eat with me." This even made me snicker a little. As much as I tried to keep my anger in my belly, he always found some way to make is dissipate. I sighed, and smiled a bit. "Yes, yes. And then of course there was the story of how she threw her wedding clothes into a well and said that they must have been stolen by a jealous admirer." This caused both of us to break into a giggle fit. Every time he brought up Mother, it just made everything in me turn to happiness, as if she were still here.

I sighed, after breaking out of my giggle fit. Father always said that I reminded him of Mother, mostly because you could mistake us for siblings if you didn't know us. She had the long dark brown hair that Father said was the color of tree bark. We both had the almond shaped amber color eyes and the exact same elven ears. We even shared the same figure: with slender curves and perfectly proportioned parts to match. Father always complained that I didn't get anything at all from him, and then mother would always joke and tell him, "well, she does have your nose if you squint, and tilt your head…"

The memories of my mother must have shown on my face, because Father pulled me into a hug. "I know, Kitten. I miss her too…" I sighed and pulled away from him gently. "She would never have agreed to this you know." He just sighed and walked over to the fireplace, grabbing a long stick and poking it. "Maybe not, but she isn't here now. I know you'll like him, if you just give him a chance." I sighed loudly and stormed to my room. I flopped on my bed and stared at the ceiling. In one week, I'll be a married woman, I said to myself. But I hated that. I hated the idea of being strapped to someone I barely know for the rest of my life. But there was one thing I definitely wanted to do. I wanted to join the most famed order of warriors, archer, rogues, and mages there ever was, where race didn't matter, only your sword arm.

The Grey Wardens.

I had heard stories about them, read every novel available, trained my skills with the twin daggers and bow to perfection, and even discovered where to find them at this very second. I was skilled, intelligent, and strong. Sure, I might have only been only seventeen summers old, but that is plenty of time to hone your skills for battle.

What got me on this course you might ask? Well, that is a whole other story in itself. My great grandfather, Andros Tabris, was one of the commanders of the Grey Wardens during the last blight almost one-hundred summers ago. He was brave, strong, quick, and witty. He was everything I wanted to be. And after one-hundred summers of living in the city under the rule of humans, I believed it was time to join the fray once more.

But what did my father say?

No.

No explanation as to why I cannot do this, just one word. Every time I bring it up, He instantly says no, and that is all he says until I storm away, completely fed up with his antics. Shianni and Soris didn't understand me either. They would just say, "he's just trying to keep you safe," and then Shianni would try to get my mind off of it by offering me alcohol. It never worked. I just wanted to live my own life, and no one in the entire Alienige could understand this.

So I decided to take things into my own hands.

If I was old enough to get married to some guy I barely knew, I was sure as hell old enough to make my own decisions. Nothing I said was taken seriously as if I were still a child. I got up from my bed and walked over to my storage chest and knelt before it. I took a deep breath before opening to reveal my clothes, my twin daggers, and several other odds and ends. Among those were a roll of parchment and a writing quill. I quickly grabbed the parchment and quill and closed the chest silently, flinching at the slight squeak it made as it shut. I took another breath, my nerves telling me that this was against anything I was taught, that I should just go back to bed, get married, and live a happy, normal life. But I didn't want normal. I wanted adventure and battle. I wanted to do something in this life instead of sit around a shack of a house and pop out babies.

The sickness in my gut didn't go away, but it did dim enough for me to continue what I was doing. I sat before my chest and laid out the parchment on it's wooden surface. I looked around and grabbed my small inkpot on the nightstand. I took a breath, dipped my quill in the ink, and began to write:

Dear Family,

I am afraid I won't be joining you for my wedding. I have decided that if I am old enough to be sold off to marriage then I am old enough to make my own decisions and way in the world. I want so much more than just a home life, you all know this of me. I want to make something of myself, to be really useful to people instead of just paraded around like some prized cow.

My real life begins as you read this note, And I hope you all wish me well.

Love,

Evelynn

I looked down at the letter and felt the sickness creep up my throat again. All I had to do to stop this whole thing was crumple this up and burn it. No, I thought. I've wanted to do this my entire life. I'm not backing out now. I blew gently on the ink covered paper until it dried, then folded it gently and slipped it under my mattress. After doing that, I calmed a little and even felt excited. This is it, I thought smugly to myself, and smiled like a little child. I tried not to bounce up and down and quickly slipped on my night gown over my travel clothes. I brushed and braided my hair and crawled into bed, blowing out my candle to let the moonlight stream into my room.

Tonight I am free, I thought to myself, and settled in for the longest wait of my life.

* * *

It really was the longest wait of my life.

Father took his sweet time going to bed, doing every chore in the house before doing so. Then, when I finally heard his door close, I waited for what felt like hours to hear his soft snoring in the other room. I sat up in bed and took out my braid, the gently moved the covers to crawl out of bed quietly. I felt as if all of my movements were painfully slow, too slow. But being quiet was key at this point, and that was one thing I was skilled at.

Mostly because of another similarity my mother and I share: We're both rogues.

I slipped myself out of my night dress, careful not to snag the thin cloth on anything on my leather travel garments. When I finally removed the dress, I folded it neatly at the foot of my bed, just as my Father had always done. Ath the thoughts of him my stomach rolled again. I closed my eyes and breathed deep. I was not going to let little memories stop me. I made my bed neatly and opened my chest as quietly as possible. I pulled out the letter , my twin daggers, and a small survival pack that I had put together for this occasion. I closed the chest and stood, sheathing my twin daggers in their sheaths on either side of my hips and the pack over my shoulders. I looked down at my letter, nicely folded into a small square and I remembered something that Shianni taught me…

"You're so impatient, Eve!" Shianni laughed.

My eleven-summer-old face heated with anger "I am not! You're just cheating!"

We were trying to make parchment stars for Soris's birthday party: which I was clearly failing at miserably. Shianni was surrounded by perfect little five-pointed parchment stars, while I was surrounded by balled up bits of parchment. Shianni Grabbed a piece of parchment. "Watch, cousin. You just fold this here…" She made several little folds, my eyes watching her fingers move intently. "...Then fold this down, then move that up...and….There!" Shianni held up a perfect little star. I tried to imitate again, and only made it halfway before giving up.

"But you were so close! Come on, we'll finish it together, okay?"

I looked up at her, and nodded. Then, after a few minutes of coaxing, both of us together made a beautiful star.

"I DID IT! I DID IT!" I jumped around excitedly, giggling along with Shianni. I attempted to toss it into my pile on the ground, but she caught it and gave it back to me. "Na-ah! Keep that one! It'll bring you luck!"

I smiled and nodded, putting it in my pocket and continueing to make more stars.

I smiled at the memory and started folding bits of the paper, just as she taught me years ago. After about a minute, I had a parchment star, just like the one from that day. I placed the star-shaped letter on my pillow and took one final glance at the bed. The sickness in my gut was now only a small queasy-feeling now. I listened for my Father's snores before I crept out my bedroom door, across the dining are, and opened the front door. I glanced back, one more time, just to engrave the memory of this place in my mind, for it would be a long time before I was back, if ever.

I faced the open door, took a deep breath of the outside air, and stepped out, closing the door behind me for good.

* * *

It took a little while to sneak around the human guards of the gate that lead from the Alienage to the market district, and even longer to sneak out of the rest of the city. But that really didn't prove much of a problem for me. Even the vagrants that haunt the streets at night didn't bother me one bit. I skirted around corners and hid in the shadows, sometimes even hiding right under their noses. Every step I took was calculated, which made things a hell of alot slower, but I didn't even once get detected.

It was only until I reached the gate to the city that I had a problem.

There would be no way for me to sneak past them without using the sewer system beneath town, and one wrong move in there could lead my straight into the Arl's castle. Which, we'll just say, would not be good. So, i had to pull off my other talent: Coercion.

"Excuse me, sir," I said confidently, walking down the street with cool confidence and a soft smirk on my face. The human look up at me and glared, placing his hand on the hilt of his blade. "What do you want, knife-ears?"

I internally rolled my eyes. Great, one of those humans. On the outside, I continued my smile. "I'm afraid I need to get through,ser. I have important business to take care of by the Arl's orders." The man laughed harshly, scowling at me. "The Arl? He woulda told us that someone was comin' through. " I looked at the man for a bit. he didn't seem familiar, mostly why I had approached this one. But damn he was tight on rules.

Then an excellent idea struck me.

I put on my best Antivan accent and pulled out one of my daggers, twirling it in my hand. "I suggest you move out of the way, senor. When the Crows make a deal with someone, they keep to their word," I shot him a dangerous look, stopping my dagger. "Even if that means we have to take care of a few extra obstacles."

The guard visibly faltered when I mentioned the Crows, a very notorious crowd of assassins … Notorious, that is, for always getting the job done, no matter what. He kept on his brave face and nodded, stepping aside, mumbling something about "looking the other way." I smiled a sweet smile and sheathed my dagger, sauntering past him.

The gate opened up before me, the final obstacle before my journey really began. I turned back and looked at the alley way stretching behind me, leading to my family, and my old life… Then I turned back and readied myself.

This is where my life begins.

.


End file.
